Painting surfboards is easy… writing instructions about it is not as easy, which is why these instructions are a wee bit long. Follow them through and you should have the most amazing board the world has seen! The video below will show you my process, but there are step by step instructions to follow and other cool painting ideas at the end.

Fieldey says: Preparation is key!

Have a good idea… draw it out and keep drawing it until you’re happy with the composition and the look. If you can’t get it to look awesome on paper there’s no hope in hell of doing it on a 6 foot board! I personally think big is better, you want people to spot you from a mile off on the beach, this board needs to look P-I-M-P(ed)!

Housework time: Preparation is the key to a long lasting paint job. If you are using a board that has been surfed already, you have to prepare the surface well so that the paint will stick. If you miss a blob of wax, or do a shoddy sanding job, that will be where the paint will chip and crack off first. If the board is brand new, you can get away with only a quick sanding (see step 4).

Check out the clip below, which shows my preparation process from start to finish, or read through the instructions underneath.

Step 1: If it’s a second-hand or old board you’ll need to remove the wax. Either stick it out in the sun for 10 minutes until the wax softens, or if it’s an overcast or cold day, give it a run-over with a hairdryer then scrape the wax off with a wax-comb or an old bank card.

Step 2: To make sure that the wax is all gone, wipe both sides of the board down with mineral turpentine (or mineral spirits in the US) this will soften any remaining wax and it should wipe straight off.

Step 3: Now, because you’re a perfectionist and you want that paint job to last for ages, you’ll grab some acetone and wipe the board down one last time to get rid of any wax or oily residue from the turps.

Step 4: You now need to sand the side of the board you are painting. You want to give the paint a surface to stick to. Thus, you need to get rid of that glossy finish. Grab yourself some 240 grit sandpaper and do a couple of runs over the board with the sander. I do at least two for good measure, changing to a new piece of paper in between. It should look dull and not shiny any more. Don’t forget to sand the rails if you want to wrap your paint job further round the board. As per the picture, I use an old electric sander, but sanding by hand will work just as well.

Step 5: Last prep thing, I promise. You should mask out any areas you don’t want painted, because believe me, they will be the FIRST to get paint blobbed on them. Use a professional quality low-tack masking tape and cover the rails or reverse of the board.

Housework is done, prepare to get gnarly.

Step 6: Background time. I like to use spray paint for a quick and instant background. Much ink has been spilt debating the various types of spray paint to use, some like car paint, some like acrylic based, some like enamel based. I’m going to save you some time here, because I’ve experimented with most of that stuff, and the brand I like best is Molotow Premium aerosol paints. It dries fast, stays on like a motherbitch and it works for me.

So spray that background and wait for it to dry and you will be ready for…

The main feature.

Which paints should you use? You could paint your whole board in aerosol paint, but if you have a hankering to paint something a little more detailed or if you don’t have mad can skillz then you might want to consider any of the following:

Posca Pens: These are super popular and a great choice if you’re more comfortable using pens rather than paint brushes.

Molotow One4All inks & paint markers: These are my go-to products, which you can watch me using in the video at the start. You can use the markers in pen form, or apply the refill inks with a brush which is great for covering larger areas and mixing your own colours.

>> Acrylic paints: You can use these on boards you want to surf, but I think they’re better used for boards you intend to hang on the wall as an artwork. My favourite brand is Golden Acrylics, but you can use any Artist Quality acrylic.

WARNING!!! Not all paints work well together – using incompatible aerosols with paint pens and then a clear coat can lead to a paint reaction that will ruin your beautiful artwork! The clear coat or paint could bubble and crack and there’s no way to save it except to start again. My top tips are to 1). Try to use all the same brand together (eg. Molotow aerosol, Molotow One4All markers and Molotow Clear coat). And 2). Test your intended paints AND the clear coat on a scrap piece of plastic and wood before you go nuts on the board! 3). Consider whether you actually want to clear coat the board: if it’s going to hang on a wall or you’re only using spray paint consider leaving it off.

Step 7: Draw up the main part of your design. I use white chalk since it’s easy to remove.

Step 8: Then add in the base colours of your design. In the movie above, I’m using refill inks with a brush so I can cover large areas quickly, but you could just as well use marker pens instead. I’m aiming to get a good coverage of ink and most of the major areas covered. The lighter colours might need 2 or 3 coats of paint to build up a good level of opacity.

Step 9: Flesh out the design by adding your shadows and building up the mid-tones to add depth to the image.

Step 10: Add your highlights to really make things pop – remember that the lightest parts of the image will be the most eye-catching and will appear to be coming forward, and the darker shadows will appear to retreat, so if you want something to really jump out, make it lighter or add highlights.

Step 11: Once I’m happy with the design, I finish it off with a nice big dose of black outlines to bring it all together and make it look cool.

Step 12: Seal the Deal. So, you’ve finished your masterpiece and decided it’s too good for the world to miss out on and you want to seal it and surf on it pronto. Clear coating is generally the point where things can go wildly wrong – the wrong choice of clear coat and paints can react with each other and cause havoc on your sexy paint job. I recommend sticking with an acrylic-based spray clear, I like to use Molotow’s Clear Coat Gloss or, for super heavy use you can use Spraymax 2k Clear which is super durable, but takes extra precautions (you need a really good quality mask as it’s super toxic) to apply since it is essentially car quality 2k in a can. Other people really rate Krylon K01305 Gallery Series Artist which I haven’t used myself. If in doubt, remember to test out your paints and clear coat on a piece of scrap wood or plastic before starting on your board. Check out the video below that I made on clear coating your surfboard.

Now you’re done! That wasn’t so hard was it?

Looking for other easy painting techniques to pimp your plank? Then check these videos out to inspire you:

PS – if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave one below. New tutorials are in the works, so subscribe to this blog or to Fieldey TV on YouTube to stay in touch.

This post contains affiliate links to some of my favourite products on Amazon, meaning that if you buy any of the products mentioned above, at no cost to you, I get a small commission for the sale which helps me keep on making rad content!

Hi Ryan, Thanks for your comment! If you’re preparing the board properly and using compatible paints and sealants you should be all good… I was talking about my own boards – I like to use acrylic paint over the spray paint and it doesn’t hold up well for long term wear. Let me know how it goes!

Hello!
A friend of mine has asked me to paint his surfboard and I shall be using your lovely guide. I have a question about the golden acrylics. I tend to paint acrylics on thickly, will this lead to the paint scratching off? I also do not plan to use any spray paints if I can help it. Is it necessary to lay spray paints down as the background or only one way of doing it?

Hi Heather,
Thanks for your message! Is the surfboard going to be used for surfing? If so, then I’m not sure that acrylics are going to be the best bet… I use them for boards that are going to be mounted on the wall! I do know that the most successful mediums for surfboards that are going to be surfed on are spray paints and posca pens, then covered with a heavy duty sealant. If it’s going to become a delightful piece of art for the wall, you can use whatever you’d like on the board and spray paints are not necessary at all – I like to use them because the are a quick way to add a background to a piece.
Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions!
Ciao! F

Hi Alexa, I don’t use poscas in my work, so I don’t have a tried and tested method for them, but you should check out Drew Brophey (http://drewbrophy.com/) he’s the king of Poscas and does great tutorials!

heaps righteous designs by the way and thanks for all the tips, I’ve just been using poscas but im a painter as well so I’m keen to start prettying up the compost heap of unrideable surfboards we have out the back. Great blog. Ta!

Hey thanks! It depends – if you’re not going to be riding the board after you can use whatever you want (pretty much). Otherwise you could use: car spray paint or posca pens, but I haven’t used either of them. I know a lot of people use the posca pens with great success.

Also i was thinking about doing a white or black background with spray paint then going over top with a design using the posca paint pens. You said to be careful on mixing brands. Do you have and suggestions on which spray paint to use with the posca paint pens?

First of all big thanks for the awesome guide! I will use it to pimp my ‘older’ boards! 🙂
Buy I have a question.
So I’m planning to shape my first surfboard, and I obviously want to make it look cool. What kind of paint would you recommend if I would paint the blank before glassing? Or wouldn’t you do this, and just paint after the glassing?

Thanks for the message! Ok – I don’t often paint on the foam blanks because the texture is too rough for my acrylic paints, but I have used Molotow Belton spray paints on there, and they work fine. So, it’ll depend on what kind of artwork you’re thinking of doing, and what medium you were thinking of using… if you’re using posca pens then I think it would be better to use them once the board is complete.

Hey Jake, I’m sure it’s totally possible – you’ll just have to use a paint that is designed for use in water. I’d take a look at some Remote Control Boat forums, I know they use a certain brand of paint on their boats and a particular brand clear coat as well. Since the boats are made of similar materials and designed for water use it could be of some help. Otherwise you could experiment with acrylics and different clear coats, I’m sorry I don’t have any tried and tested methods for you. Good luck!

Im buying some used surfboards to use as my menu at a restaurant. What paint can i use to make a solid color and then add Vinyl for my letters on board? They will be outside and have weather on them. Thanks

I’ve never come across people doing this kind of thing, but I reckon you’d definitely be able to tell if it wasn’t new because of the pressure dings and dimples in the board – it won’t be nice and smooth and pristine like a new board. Also if they paint the whole board white, you’d be able to see and feel where they had taped over the stringer or the paint won’t have the texture/look of fibreglass.

Thanks for your message! I haven’t had cause to paint an old yellow board myself, but I reckon if you prepped and sanded as per the first steps, then maybe coat in in a white enamel or car paint that could work. Might pay to ask at a surfboard shaper or a paint shop for a second opinion though, don’t want to ruin an excellent old board!

I just bought a old longboard and they used some dark resin to fix the tail and nose so it looks bad. The board is white. What paint can I use from Home Depot or Lowes to cover the old dark resin and then I will resin over it. Thanks.

Hi Kirk, sorry for the super late reply. I’m afraid this one’s out of my area of expertise as I’m not sure what paints will or won’t react with being covered in resin – your best bet is a surfboard shaping forum. If you test it out and it works I’d be keen to hear what you used! Cheers, F.

Thank you for the instructions, I’m stoked. My boyfriend gave me some of his boards to paint but I was always nervous to screw up something nice of his (probably wouldn’t hear the end of it). So I managed to snag a busted up shortboard from some bar.. I don’t know how, but I did. It’s not shiny at all or anything though, but what should I do about the stickers? Scrape em off with a razorblade I presume? I’m just scared to gash it up.

Eh, whatever… Trial and error. And a stiff drink. Hopefully I will figure it out.
Thanks again!

Lol! Thanks for your comment! Stiff drink definitely helps, and so does painting on a busted up old board for the first go 🙂 So stickers – scrape them off to start with (gently) and then get some acetone, or a goo removing product and wipe off any sticky residue. Don’t forget to wash off the chemicals afterward before painting. Good luck & send me a pic if it turns out rad!

Hey Fieldey, thx for the inspiring tutorial and sharing your experiences!
One question – DO you recommend sanding the (complete) board area even before painting with (posca) pens? I do understand the “grip”aspect and for a fully spraid board it makes absoltly sense – but what if you are just painting parts of the board and leaving “opaque/original” parts as background? wouldnt it be difficult/even ugly to sand larger parts of the board … ?
Hope question is clear 😉

Thanks for your comment! Ok, so I normally paint the whole board so I tend to sand the whole board, but my personal advice in this case would be to sand the whole deck because it’s probably the easiest course of action and won’t make a great deal of difference to the final product once you seal the deck after drawing. The only time it might make a difference is if the board already has a gloss coating applied (e.g. mal), then maybe I would spot sand it. I hope this helps, if you have any more questions let me know!

So I have a really nice brand new Firewire and I’m in love with it but I don’t want it to have a bad texture after my artist is done with the art on it… he usually only sprays the art with clear coat, but I’m wondering if I should be coating the whole board? I really don’t want it to be patchy I want it to all be uniform. Advice?

I like your videos ~!
But I have a few questions
(1) Is it OK to use a Silicone spray to do the final coating ?
(2)When painting, can you use a brush and some Acrylic paint.
Cause the paint came off with the tape.

Hi Mark, thanks for your comment! Ok, 1). I have never used this nor heard of anyone using it, so I couldn’t give you any advice on it sorry, mostly I use either a car clear coat or an acrylic one. 2). I don’t advise using the acrylic paint if you’re going to be using the board for surfing… spray paints, paint pens and inks are all good if you can get your hands on them. Good luck! Fieldey.

No problem – the spray paints I use aren’t water based based and I haven’t tried any that are… your best best would be to try them out on a small section of the board with the sealant on top (use masking tape to give yourself a small window to try it out) then take it out for a surf. If the paint chips or flakes you can sand it back off again. The other option would be to contact the paint manufacturers direct and ask them if it’s designed for that kind of heavy marine use.

Fieldly, first your advise and video is priceless. The end product is incredible! I found your article while researching how to paint on a surfboards. I am surprising my boyfriend for Christmas by painting his short board but I am having a hard time finding a clear coat. I used acrylic paints for the design. The molotow that you use does not ship to the US. Any other products that you recommend?
Thank you!
Morgan

Hola El Capitán! Thanks for your comment! The other thing I would recommend trying is an acrylic-based car clear coat… I’m not sure what brands you get in the US, but try checking out a paint supplies shop that stocks car paints. I use one called “Motospray” clear coat. Good luck!

Hey just wanted to say I love your work and only have one question. Would you be so kind as to share your secret for doing the designs with the dish soap? I thought it was a really cool way to do the background so it wasn’t just one plain color. Keep up the awesome work, you’re a huge inspiration

Thanks for your comment! I’ll be doing a detailed YouTube clip soon to show how this is done, but in essence you spray a base coat of colour, wait for it to dry and then sprinkle or strafe the dish detergent over the board and straight away paint your top coat on. When the top coat is touch dry wash it off with water and you’re done! You can check out clips on YouTube of other people demonstrating how it’s done.

Hey,
So first of all, I L O V E your work! secondly, I was just wondering what do you use to sketch your design on a board once it’s already got it’s base coat on?.. is it just a white pencil or?,,,
I apologise if you have already answered this question before – I didn’t have a quick read through some of the questions but did not see it.

First i just want to say that your artwork is truly inspiring and absolutely amazing. k now for the question can you tell me how you do the dish soap technique because i tried it earlier today and it didnt work out too well, could you just go over how long to let the soap sit before and after painting, if it has to be a certain kind of dish soap, and other tips and tricks you have up your sleeve 😛

Bugger! I’ve got a new tutorial in the works for this particular technique which’ll be coming out in the next few weeks, but that’s not much use to you right now! Ok, so it works best if you don’t do it on a hot day or in full sunlight, otherwise the soap starts to dry and you don’t want that to happen. After you apply the soap you need to wait until the paint is touch dry, so it helps to use a quick-drying type of paint, and then wash the soap off quickly. As for the dish soap, I’m using Morning Fresh because that’s what I had on hand to wash my dishes, but any type of thick/concentrated soap will work well – you don’t want it too thin and watery. Let me know what went wrong and I’ll see if I can trouble-shoot it for you.

what the problem was, is that after i poured on the soap i did another coat of paint on top of it and i waited a few hours and the soap didnt settle so it it dripped and it left raised marks in the paint and also paint speckles (almost like over-spray) where the soap was and it looked awful, so i sanded it down and time to try again. thank you so much!

Hi, I just wanna say your work is fantastic, you’re very talented! I’m a fine artist myself and have just got Luke Hart to shape me a lovely blank that I would love to paint myself before I start surfing it!…my style is more traditional so I do not want to use black lines…I’m painting a crashing wave and want to look almost real, so I was thinking of using acrylic paints thinly and then getting the board glassed straight over the artwork…do you think this will be ok? It’s water based paint..will I need to seal it before glassing is done? I’ve never done this before so advice would be really appreciated 🙂
Clare

Hi Clare – thanks for your comment! I’ve never painted a blank with acrylics because I don’t like the weird porous texture of the foam, but I do believe water based paint (like acrylics) is fine to use, especially thin coats that will allow the fibreglass to bond to the foam. If I was you I’d ask Luke to see if he could give you a foam off-cut that you can test out the paints – especially if you’re planning on painting something time consuming and detailed – you’re going to want to see how the paints react and behave with the foam. You could also see if he’d glass your test piece after you’re done so you can see how it’s going to look. I wouldn’t think you would need to seal it at all though. Hope this helps!

Love the tutorial!
A couple questions. First of all, the railing on the side, is the easiest way to keep it real straight with masking tape? Second of all, I know you’ve replied quite a bit about Acrylics and using the surfboard, but Im not too confident using just paint markers for the design, so if parts were done in Acrylic, with enough clear coat could the board still be used?
And lastly! with a partial design on the deck of the board, is the application for paints and such the same as the underside?
Cheers
Paul

Hey Paul, thanks for your comment! Masking tape is the easiest way I find, otherwise you get heaps of overspray and a fuzzy edge. I wouldn’t recommend acrylics for rideable boards – I haven’t tested them out, but the paint markers are designed more for this kind of use. You can bleed the markers out on a piece of plastic and apply them with a brush if you like, and they behave like acrylic ink. If you’re doing the deck of the board just be mindful of the fact that it’s going to be waxed, so in that case definitely use the markers/inks rather than acrylics. I hope this helps!

Thanks you so much for the information, just got into doing some local surfboard painting for my area and found this technique to be a lot easier than my old one. Gotta love surfing with a custom board. Love your work!

Hi Jemima, because I paint the entire board I’d be worried that the glass would delaminate if it can’t adhere properly to the coat below. What I recommend you do is talk it over with your local shaper for some options.

Hey! Thanks for your post, just getting started painting my first board, and this helps alot.

But I’ve looked all over the internet, and can’t seem to find a reason for the water-based instead of the oil-based. I just bought oil based sharpie paint pens, and opened the pack, so can’t be returned now! should I use them on my board? What’s the reasoning behind the water-based bias I’ve been seeing? And would a coat of polyurethane work for finishing?

Hey Growler,
I asked my shapers about your question and they are trying to figure out what brand of pens you’re using as most of them are water based or alcohol based. You’ve got to be careful that they won’t run when you clear coat them, and since I haven’t used them before I’d recommend testing them out on a piece of plastic or metal and clear-coating them to see how they behave. Let me know how you go!

Hello,
Is there a reason why you can’t use acrylic paint on a board that will be surfed (and not just used as decoration)?. Paint pens are a lot more expensive in my area (compared to acrylic), so I wanted to know if it is safe to use acrylics instead. Thanks for your post!

I tend to use paint pens because they’ve been throughly tested out by everyone else and I know they work! The acrylic paint tends to go on quite thick and leave bumps and ridges in the paint which adds extra weight and could be a problem, but that said, I haven’t tried surfing my acrylic boards – you could give it a go, but I couldn’t guarantee the longevity. Good luck!

Hi there, just wondering, is the process for painting both the bottom of the board, and the deck of the board the same? I am looking at a full design on the bottom of the board, with parts wrapping over to the deck. Just curious as to how to go about that.
Cheers
Paul

Hi Fieldey!
I’m painting my first surfboard for a friend of mine and since you are an AMAZING artist I came for advice. I was wondering if it was ok to use Tempera paint for surboards. If so, what kind of seal would I use?
Thank you so much in advance!

Thanks Totally New!
Umm… no I wouldn’t recommend using Tempera if your friend is going to be surfing the board afterwards… I’ve never used that type of paint on a board before and I’d have no idea what to seal it with either, but my understanding is that it is a water based paint like gouache? I reckon your best bet would be acrylic paint or spray paint or posca pens. Good luck!

If you can get hold of them, I recommend the Molotow paints – they’re a mat finish and you can clear coat them with a mat clear coat so you won’t get a shiny finish. Otherwise go for a type of paint that has a mat finish over a glossy one.

Hey Paul, depends on what you’re painting if it’s supposed to cover a lot of the board or not and how many colours you want to use. I don’t think that one marker would cover a whole board, maybe a quarter I reckon.

Hi! Your work looks awesome! I’ve got a new marine ply bellyboard but it’s varnished. I want to do a henna outline wave design on it using Posca pens, would it be ok to draw straight onto the varnished wood and the just seal it?

Hey, I am following your tutorial here for two boards that are going in my expected sons room. One is going to stand vertical as a growth chart and then I want to peminately mount one horizontally over the crib. Can you give me any advice as to mounting the horizontal one?

hi, I just want to do a bit of a henna like design on my board not a full job with spray paints and all that. is there any way I can do a simple design on my board without sanding it? is there any kind of marker that I can put straight on my board that wont wash off or require sanding???
thanks 🙂

Hey there I bought a surfboard cheap because it has a ugly colour design keen to paint a new picture on the board may b a massy barrel wave and take it hard out surfing what paints are recommended that wont come off when surfing.
thankyou

Hi, I painted a plastic longboard with acrylic paint and used a “waterproof” acrylic sealer, but it still doesnt seem like it will hold for use actually surfing. I understand that the acrylic is waterbased so it was not the best option to use for the board, but it is already done. Do you have any recommendations for a type/brand of sealer that I can use on my board to make it permanent so I can surf with it?

Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough article. My ten year old just started surfing and I bought him a used surfboard that’s seen better days. And although he is happy to have it I can tell he wishes he had a nicer one and now thanks to your wonderful instructions we will have a chance to customize the board and make it like new. My parental heart is filled with joy, now we have a project to work on 🙂

this thread totally helped me. Sick work, and thanks for all of the time spent on answering other folks’ questions. Brush painting on the bottom with golden paints, and taking it back the glasser when done. One tip the shaper mentioned was to wear gloves, as the oil can also cause a delam.

Just a quick question:
Do you have a gauge of how thick paint pens (actual paint) are?

I am building a stand up paddle board and am considering painting on the hot coat (when I get to that point). I have a pretty basic design, purple on the bottom wrapping the rails and a white deck. I have some dirt stuck in my deck glass job. So I’m considering covering it with another layer of paint. If I tape off the rails to paint the deck white, when I go to paint the rails… will the masking tape pull up the paint I do on the deck?

I’m not sure which paint I will use. If you have a suggestion, I’m open to it. Otherwise I’m open to ordering some of that molotow paint.

Also, for a 10ft board, do you know how many paint cans I would need?

Your post has already been quite helpful! I appreciate any additional help you can offer me.

Hi! thank you for the post! awesome work! I’m in the process of painting my 6’3 Fish but want to have the board return to a shiny, smooth finish…how can i do this…right now its rough and the paint looks good but will it ever be shiny again or have this rough matte look?

Hi! I want to paint and wall mount my boyfriends old surfboard but I am reading conflicting information about the type of paint I should use. Many acrylic suggestions, lots of enamel suggestions. Which would you recommend, and should I use a primer? Thanks 🙂

Hi fieldey
I’ve been restoring an old longboard, and I’ve used poscas to do my pinlines,
But I haven’t done my homework and I’ve jumped the gun, cos I have to coat board with a gloss resin coat,
Will the podcast run or am I going to be ok,
I’m caking it now I’ve done a good job I don’t want to find out the hard way,
Brendan

This is soooo helpful!! The most detailed and informative surfboard painting how-to I’ve seen on the internet EVER. I’ve been so scared to paint my boyfriend’s surfboard, but now I’m confident I can do it perfectly. Thank you so much!!!! 10/10

Painting the surfboard is very much excitement but it is very difficult to paint and if a any mistake occur than it would bring the major disaster so always try to take the help from the instructor if you want to modify your surfboard.

Thanks for this! I watched your videos a few times before getting the courage to do it myself. I actually tried the soap trick today with orange as the background and blue over the top and worked so good! What an awesome idea! Love you work btw.

hello!,I love your writing very so much! proportion we keep in touch extra about your post on AOL? I need an expert in this area to solve my problem. May be that is you! Having a look forward to look you.